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2023-06-23

French govt. says users of uBlock Origin, Signal etc. are potential terrorists

  • The French government has labeled users of privacy-focused technologies like uBlock Origin and Signal as potential terrorists.
  • The government's labeling is based on a report that equates the use of such tools with suspicious activities.
  • This report has sparked concerns about privacy and government surveillance.

Industry Reactions

  • The French government considers the use of Signal and Linux with encryption settings as suspicious behavior, raising concerns about privacy rights and freedom of association.
  • Critics argue that these actions indicate a slide towards authoritarianism and a violation of civil liberties.
  • The situation in France underscores the need for ongoing scrutiny and vigilance in protecting civil liberties and human rights.

Dear Red Hat: Are you dumb?

  • Red Hat has made the decision to lock down the sources of their Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution, angering many users who relied on its compatibility with other distributions.
  • The move has left users questioning whether they should continue supporting RHEL and RHEL-like distributions or switch to alternatives like Fedora.
  • The decision has raised concerns about the impact on production systems and the need for support from Red Hat. Users are exploring alternatives such as Alma Linux and Rocky Linux.

Industry Reactions

  • Red Hat is facing criticism for recent decisions that are damaging the company's reputation and goodwill, potentially hurting their relationship with the grassroots community and leading to a loss of talent and adoption in the open-source community.
  • Suggestions have been made for Red Hat to allow rebuilders like Alma or Rocky to exist by providing them with access to the source code but restricting their ability to sell support, in order to address concerns from small businesses and developers who find it difficult to navigate the licensing and subscription processes for using real RHEL.
  • Users are considering alternative distributions like Debian and Ubuntu, as well as distros like Oracle Linux and Amazon Linux, due to concerns about the impact on the open-source community and the loss of goodwill, making it harder for Red Hat to attract and retain customers.

How to do the thing you've been avoiding

  • Sometimes, the things we think are bad ideas may actually turn out to be our greatest assets.
  • We often avoid certain actions or decisions because we assume that others think the same way, but we don't actually know if that's true.
  • It's important to question why we think something is a bad idea, seek input from others, and consider the worst-case scenario before dismissing it. Taking risks and gaining new experiences can lead to unexpected positive outcomes.

Industry Reactions

  • Procrastination is often rooted in the avoidance of tasks that we don't want to do or don't see the immediate consequences of not doing.
  • Breaking tasks down into smaller, manageable steps can make them less overwhelming and easier to start.
  • Finding ways to eliminate distractions and create an environment conducive to productivity can help in overcoming procrastination.

Mistakes to avoid to build a better 1-person business

  • Solo-founders should avoid businesses that require scale and massive numbers of users, as it's difficult to attract and maintain a large customer base without a budget or network effects.
  • Charging low prices can be challenging for small businesses, as it requires reaching a large number of customers and sustaining losses. Targeting businesses instead of consumers allows for higher prices and easier sales.
  • Choosing a smaller market with fewer competitors can increase the chances of success for a 1-person business, as it allows for specialization and becoming the biggest fish in a niche market.

Industry Reactions

  • Building relationships and networking are important for success in business.
  • Nepotism exists but is not the only factor in business success or failure.
  • Starting small and targeting niche markets can be advantageous for 1-person businesses.

Now Reddit are coming for the individual personal subreddits

  • Reddit is implementing new policies that are causing concerns among users, particularly regarding the re-assignment of moderators and the potential loss of personal subreddits.
  • The author of the post has received a notice to reclaim their personal subreddit, which they had previously closed in protest of Reddit's treatment of volunteer moderators and the general community.
  • The author intends to resist this reclaiming and continue their protest against Reddit's actions.

Industry Reactions

  • The API changes on Reddit have sparked a protest among moderators and users, who are concerned about the negative impact on third-party apps and user experience.
  • The protest highlights tensions between Reddit admins and the community, raising questions about the platform's future.
  • Users are considering alternative platforms due to frustration with Reddit's actions and decision-making process.

Debris found came from missing Titan sub, says friend of passengers

  • The mothership of the missing Titan sub, called the Polar Prince, is returning to St John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
  • The debris field is being searched by several vessels, including the Horizon Arctic, L'Atalante, and the John Cabot.
  • The debris field was first found by the Palegic Odysseus 6K ROV, operated by the Horizon Arctic.

Industry Reactions

  • Debris from a missing Titan sub was found, raising concerns about the CEO's cavalier attitude and ageism.
  • The incident highlights the need for experienced engineers and proper engineering, maintenance, and safety considerations.
  • The incident serves as a lesson for the tech industry about the importance of prioritizing safety in deep-sea exploration.

Svelte 4

  • Svelte 4 has been released, bringing updates to performance, developer experience, and the website.
  • The release results in smaller and faster code, reducing package size and dependencies, leading to faster downloads and improved user experience.
  • Svelte 5, the next generation of Svelte, is in the works and will bring major new features and performance improvements.

Industry Reactions

  • Svelte is a frontend framework that offers a fast and interactive development experience for building UIs.
  • The release of Svelte 4 has generated significant interest and downloads, with improvements in package size and number of dependencies.
  • The SvelteKit documentation at https://learn.svelte.dev/ provides comprehensive and interactive resources for learning Svelte.

Revolt: FOSS Discord Alternative

  • Revolt is a new alternative to Discord, a popular chat app, that focuses on user privacy and customization.
  • It allows users to create private chat spaces for themselves and their friends, with role-based access control and customizable features.
  • Revolt ensures data security and privacy by not selling or leaking user data, and it is based in Europe, following GDPR regulations.

Industry Reactions

  • Revolt is a FOSS alternative to Discord.
  • It is primarily built by a single person and is written in Rust.
  • Some users prefer the UX of Revolt over other alternatives like Element, and appreciate its focus on privacy.

People paid to train AI are outsourcing their work to AI

  • A new study has found that a significant proportion of workers paid to train AI models are actually outsourcing their work to AI itself.
  • This practice may introduce further errors into already error-prone AI models.
  • The study highlights the need for new ways to check whether data has been produced by humans or AI and the need for the AI community to investigate which tasks are most prone to being automated and find ways to prevent it.

Industry Reactions

  • People paid to train AI are outsourcing their work to AI.
  • Researchers used a "chatgpt detector" to detect AI-generated responses, but its effectiveness is being questioned.
  • The use of AI to detect AI raises concerns about the dangers of relying too heavily on AI in the training process.

Thoughts on Svelte(Kit), one year and 3B requests later](https://claudioholanda.ch/en/blog/svelte-kit-after-3-billion-requests/)### Industry Reactions

  • Svelte is gaining traction as a minimalist approach to web development, contrasting more complex stacks like Node, Webpack, and React.
  • The article emphasizes the importance of choosing the right technology for a project and using Svelte appropriately, without overusing reactive declarations and statements.
  • The need for improved library support in Svelte is mentioned, with custom libraries being developed to meet specific needs.